Viacom Joins the Anti-Google TV Brigade

Google’s () set-top box product has already received blowback from the major broadcast networks — NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox — not to mention Hulu () — but now it looks like cable is joining the party too.

GTVHub discovered that Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, and Nickelodeon have all blocked Google TV from accessing full episode streams from their websites.

Frankly, we agree with the GTVHub assessment that the only real shocker in this scenario is that it didn’t happen sooner. YouTube and Viacom have a notoriously rocky past. In addition, Vevo, which syndicates content from several major music labels to YouTube (), has pulled its music content from MTV properties on the web. Plus, Viacom’s corporate sister CBS already banned Google TV from accessing its web content.

At this point, the list of networks that do support Google TV is getting smaller and smaller. It seems that now only TNT, TBS, USA Network, Bravo, and PBS are still supporting Google TV.

At the Web 2.0 Summit last week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussed the network backlash against Google TV, seemingly shocked by this development. Schmidt said the networks were afraid to embrace the future, rather than being miffed at someone selling advertising on their content without giving them a cut. But that doesn’t change the fact that for IPTV solutions to really work, they need to support content users actually want to watch.

The reason that Hulu has been such a success with consumers is that it offers users the ability to get the content they want on their computer, without fuss. That’s also why the barrage of Hulu Plus-enabled devices are already driving adoption.

Google TV is about more than just online video — it’s really about cable and satellite content too. Still, if you have to have another set-top box, like the Boxee Box or a Roku, we can’t imagine users flocking to plunk down $300 on a Google TV.